1. Technological Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of content and/or data delivery over a network. More particularly, the present disclosure is related, in one exemplary aspect, to apparatus and methods for management of quality of service for managed service provision via an external network.
2. Description of Related Technology
The proliferation of the Internet and increased connection technologies such as broadband has contributed to the development of different avenues for content provision, such as for example Internet Protocol (IP) delivery. Accordingly, these new avenues have allowed for delivery of content to previously unavailable customer bases over, e.g., externally managed networks (EMNs).
These externally managed networks include, without limitation, networks of competing service providers, municipalities, enterprises, and non-profit groups such as universities. In the absence of the aforementioned avenues, provision of information services (such as television or other content services) or telecommunications services to these externally managed networks is generally limited to a single owner of the underlying physical data lines. Alternatively, these services may be provided wholesale to the externally managed network with limited service support options for network administrators.
However, the provision of services over EMNs presents challenges for service providers. For example, a service provider (e.g. multiple systems operator or “MSO”) providing IP television (IPTV) service to a university is simultaneously charged with providing reliable IPTV service, while having only limited (or no) control of the “last mile” of the delivery network. Thus, the IPTV service provider may be held responsible for delivery failures or periods of limited service without options for mitigation available because of this limited control. For example, the service provider may be improperly held responsible for a buffer underrun error resulting in a loss of IPTV playback at user device. In this case, the responsible party may be the administrator of the network infrastructure of the EMN charged with last mile delivery. As such, the service provider may receive a service complaint and be unable to restore operation of the network infrastructure (or even properly diagnose the issue).
The aforementioned problem is compounded by the fact that services such as high-definition (HD) IPTV have comparatively daunting quality of service requirements. Further, denying service options to externally managed network operators based on their network's current capabilities, or forcing upgrades to such capabilities as a predicate to service, may unduly limit service opportunities.
Hence, flexible management tools for maintaining quality of service on external networks are one salient need presented by the foregoing situation. Ideally, such tools should allow for implementation of services with varying quality of service requirements and integration with a wide variety of network architectures.